Remarkable Remy gets right kind of ride

ELMONT, N.Y. - Patience proved virtuous for Remarkable Remy, who rallied six wide down the center of Belmont Park's Widener Turf Course Monday to win the $121,000 Pebbles Stakes by one length over Senior Rita Lady. It was a nose back to Meriwether Jessica in third.

The victory enabled Remarkable Remy to bounce back from a disappointing third-place finish in the Jack Betta Be Rite Stakes going six furlongs here on Sept. 18. In that race, trainer John Kimmel felt jockey Kent Desormeaux asked his horse to run too early.

Monday, jockey Ramon Dominguez gave Remarkable Remy a patient ride, tucking her in and behind horses when able to at the half-mile pole, before being forced to go wide turning for home. When Dominguez asked Remarkable Remy for run at the three-sixteenths pole, she responded with a strong late kick. Remarkable Remy, a New York-bred daughter of Hennessy owned by Live Oak Plantation, covered the mile in 1:35.65 and returned $22 to win.

"I thought he put her in a heavy drive real early last time," Kimmel said. "Most horses have a quarter-mile run. If you get her shut off early she's going to give you a good quarter mile run. Maybe a mile is a better distance, but I didn't think it was out of the realm she could sprint if she was ridden properly."

Four of Remarkable Remy's five career victories have come at the one-mile distance.

* Earlier on the card, Royal Vindication ($4.50) split horses in midstretch and outfinished Uncle Gidge for a half-length victory in the $74,750 Trapp Mountain Stakes for 2-year-olds. Royal Vindication, a son of Vindication owned by the Einar Paul Robsham Stables and trained by Stan Hough, covered six furlongs in 1:09.66 and returned $4.50 as the favorite.